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15:58 GMT, Sunday, 11 May 2008 16:58 UK

Tottenham 0-2 Liverpool

By Nabil Hassan

Dirk Kuyt and Dimitar Berbatov

Goals from Andriy Voronin and Fernando Torres secured a comfortable victory for Liverpool over Tottenham in a lack-lustre affair at White Hart Lane.

Voronin opened the scoring midway through the second-half slipping the ball past Radek Cerny after latching onto Torres' flick-on.

Torres then made it 2-0 with a superb individual effort, his 24th league goal of his debut Liverpool season.

The Spaniard also hit the crossbar with a fine chip late on.

Although both teams had little to play for, Liverpool being secure in fourth place and Tottenham stuck in mid-table, entertainment was in short supply early on.

The visitors shaded a poor first 45 minutes, dominating possession with Tottenham struggling to get out of their half.

Bet despite not having the ball for long periods, Tottenham defended well and limited Liverpool to half-chances.

Voronin had the first chance of the game but his volley was tame and Cerny saved comfortably.

Minutes later, Ryan Babel side footed weakly from a difficult angle as another chance went to waste.

Dimitar Berbatov had Tottenham's first chance testing Reina with a powerful close range header from Jamie O'Hara's corner.

Tottenham made two changes at half-time, with Tom Huddlestone and Teemu Tainio coming into proceedings.

But Liverpool continued to create the better chances and Torres should have done better when one on one with Cerny, but the Spaniard blasted his shot straight at the legs of the Tottenham keeper.

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Soon after, Steed Malbranque went close with a left foot volley which was deflected into the side netting for a corner.

Liverpool did eventually break the deadlock after 69 minutes through Voronin, who latched onto Torres' flick-on to beat Cerny from close range for 1-0.

Tottenham were almost level a few minutes later but Jose Reina pulled off a wonderful save from Berbatov's half-volley.

But Torres made it 2-0 with a fine individual effort to secure the points for Liverpool.

Picking the ball up on the edge of the area, he shaped to go one way before dragging the ball the other and from a tight angle he coolly slipped the ball past Cerny to score his 24th goal of the campaign.

And 24 could have been 25 had his chip late-on been a couple of inches lower with the Liverpool striker hitting the crossbar late-on.

It could have got worse for Spurs, but Cerny saved Alan Hutton from conceding an embarrassing own goal.


Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez:
"We knew we had a lot of supporters here and we wanted to win for them.

"We created a lot of chances and could have scored more goals. The first half was frustrating but the second was much better and we deserved the victory.

"Gerrard and Torres are good players and they have a great understanding, but you have to credit the whole team.

"You know when you sign a player like Torres you will get goals and you expect that but this season he has been amazing. He has been fantastic."

Tottenham assistant manager Gus Poyet:
"It was a disappointing performance and we expected something different and something better than that.

"We wanted to win and prove ourselves against Liverpool. But they were better than us and we need to learn from this.

"We cannot complain too much, we have won silverware and qualified for Europe this season."

On Berbatov's future he added: "He is under contract and we would like him to stay, but if a club comes in with an offer we will have to look at it."


Tottenham: Cerny, Hutton, Dawson (Bent 75), Woodgate, Gilberto, Malbranque, Jenas (Huddlestone 46), Zokora, O'Hara (Tainio 46), Berbatov, Keane.
Subs Not Used: Robinson, Chimbonda.

Booked: Hutton.

Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Skrtel, Insua, Kuyt (Lucas 80), Gerrard, Mascherano, Babel (Benayoun 59), Torres, Voronin (Finnan 71).
Subs Not Used: Itandje, Hyypia.

Booked: Insua.

Att: 36,063

Ref: Uriah Rennie (S Yorkshire).


BBC Sport Player Rater man of the match: Liverpool's Fernando Torres 7.96 (on 90 minutes).

Please note that you can still give the players marks out of 10 on BBC Sport's Player Rater after the match has finished.

Player Rater




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Related to this story:

How the title was won (11 May 08 |  Premier League )
Premier League finale as it happened (11 May 08 |  Premier League )
Premier League photos (11 May 08 |  Football )
BBC pundits on the Premier League (11 May 08 |  Premier League )
Garth Crooks's team of the week (24 Feb 08 |  Score on BBCi )



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